


Stormy Seas

by TheClassics4



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-13
Updated: 2013-01-13
Packaged: 2017-11-25 09:41:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/637554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheClassics4/pseuds/TheClassics4
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ariel has never been a solitary creature of the ocean. She dreams of adventure and friendship, but most of all love, which is said to be the most powerful magic of all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Ariel was lonely sometimes. She had few friends and had never known her family. Mermaids were supposed to be solitary creatures, but Ariel had always wanted to feel like she belonged somewhere—had some kind of purpose.

She had only ever spoken to one actual Man-Animal. A beautiful young woman, living in a castle on the coast. Ariel had found the castle when her sheer curiosity got the better of her. The stream she’d long been wondering over had led to a beautiful pond. The fish who filled it didn’t respond to her. They swam away without a second glance. At first she’d been a bit offended by their shunning of her, but she realized they didn’t recognize her or even understand her.

The plants were foreign to her as well, but gave the water a beautiful aroma. She’d enjoyed it a few minutes, playing with the underwater buds and weaving them around her wrist and into her hair.

It was only when she felt ripples in the water above her did she notice she was being watched.

Belle had been very young that day. Ariel never remembered being such a small thing herself, and wondered if she had had the body of a woman her entire life. Supposedly, she would live forever with the body she’d been given. It saddened her that, one day, her friend would die.

Child Belle had not been hesitant when she’d spotted the mermaid; Ariel had been the timid one. Belle had gazed with such curiosity into the water and smiled at her, dipping her hand into the water and waving it around. Ariel had only seen the Man-Animal from a distance, but this girl was so tiny and looked so kind. When she’d stretched down her small hand, Ariel reached hers out to meet her.

The girl had giggled and plopped herself on the closest rock, beckoning her to the surface. Before then, Ariel hardly ever emerged from the surface of the water. She found air to be suffocating and heavy, but she obeyed the Child Belle’s gesturing and propped herself on a rock.

Ariel had learned enough of the human’s language to be able to understand her, but the way she spoke some of her words made Ariel need to concentrate to catch the meaning.

Since that day, Belle was Ariel’s only connection to the human world. As Belle learned to read the human language, she taught Ariel too. Belle became engaged to a handsome duke, Ariel was the first she told. There were wars going on beyond the castle, where Ariel would never see. Pirates looted the cities on the coast. Evil Queens threatened princesses left and right.

With a sad laugh, Belle had assured her she was neither an actual princess nor did she have a stepmother. She wouldn’t have to worry.

Then, one day, Belle failed to arrive at the pond. The day was dark and the sky was red, as it so often was. Belle told her it was because of the bonfires in the battlegrounds. Ariel waited, propped up on the rock until, eventually, she had pulled herself almost entirely out of the water. Only her tail fins remained in the water and she could barely breathe.

Finally, it became dark. Belle hadn’t shown up and Ariel fought off dread that she’d been fatally wrong about the Evil Queens.

Day after day, Ariel waited. She nervously toyed with her hair while she sat and no longer sang while she did. Belle had loved the way Ariel sang, but always refused to sing herself, saying she was embarrassed and had a ‘screeching voice’. Ariel knew that couldn’t be true, even when she spoke, Belle had a lovely voice.

It was exactly 33 days after Belle had vanished when Ariel was spotted by a man. Just by description, she knew him to be Belle’s fiancé.

“Excuse me!” She called, “You knew Belle—”

“Back!” He swung at her a long knife and she flipped off the rock to avoid being cut in half.

“Wait! I just—”

“Out!” The blade narrowly missed her face and she had to duck under water. Above her, he still slashed at the surface and she watched him, terrified.

Still, after the traumatic incident, she came to Belle’s pond, always out of sight, but she no longer waited all day. Belle was never there when she checked.

Ariel took to swimming back in the oceans. It had been a long while since she’d been back there—to her real home. She swam aimlessly for a few hours before a taste of something in the water caught her attention. It was a human scent, something sharp and bitter.

Curious now, she swam into the smell. It wasn’t as unpleasant as she’d first thought. It had a slight taste of grapes to it. She noticed, too late, that the longer she stayed in its trail; the more it seemed to make her thoughts muggy. The line she swam in seemed to be straight, but she was never over the same line of coral for any length of time.

Finally, she had to stop, her thoughts becoming too hazy.

Her head broke the surface of the water and she rubbed at her eyes, lazily. When she lowered her palms, she found herself not far from a large ship. Immediately, her entire body felt happy, the effects of the strange substance leaving her.

With her head above the water, she swam quickly over to the ship.

“Cap’n!” A male voice called. “Cap’n, can we really keep none at all? Not even a barrel for—”

“None, Smee,” Another voice said as she neared. Weary of being seen, she slipped down close to the side of the ship and listened. “We keep a barrel for medical purposes only. None for pleasure. All of it could be tainted…Dumb bastard! Thinks I don’t recognize the taste of my own poison.”

A large barrel splashed down only a few strokes before her, making her jump as it the water splashed unexpectedly into her face.

“’At he was, Cap’n.”

“Get me when the stuff’s gone, Mr. Smee.”

“Aye,” the second barrel still made her wince, but not as the first had. She ducked under the water and examined the base of the ship, running her fingers over the barnacles and wood. It didn’t cut deep into the water, but Ariel still didn’t swim underneath it. The shadow it cast into the water seemed too ominous to risk it.

On the end of the ship, Ariel resurfaced when she’d seen enough to quell her curiosity. It towered above her. She wanted to see in. There were windows visible to her, but what they held inside were hidden. There must be many new Man-Animals. She’d heard of those who lived on boats their entire lives. Belle had talked of pirates and of sailors and from description, pirates were to be dangerous, sailors could be kind. Both of them had admitted they’d dreamt of seeing such men, but knew, at least until now, that was a fantasy.

Knowing the stories, Ariel was cautious. There was no indication as to whether or not these Man-Animals were pirates or sailors, but she was determined to know which.

First, she tried climbing the side of the ship, using the barnacles as grips, but her arms weren’t strong enough and slipped back down. She fell back into the water with a little huff and eyed the ship, angrily, as if it had insulted her.

A few circles around the ship showed her there was no way of getting up to see. She could wait. She had nothing better to do and the ship would dock somewhere.

It would be dream fulfilled to see a port up close. She would have to be even more elusive, but the thought of seeing so many humans in once place almost had her trembling with excitement. There was so much of this world she’d never seen. Why she was waiting to see them was beyond her.

Belle’s disappearance was weighing on her and she needed something to distract her. What better to do that than by getting out and seeing new humans? Yes, she would follow the ship, which would be no challenge at all, considering its size. She would finally get to see a city.

The ship stayed still for an excruciatingly long time. Restlessly, she swam around and around, keeping close to its side or deep enough not to be seen. A few times, she even tried to give the massive ship a push, knowing it would do nothing, but her excitement kept her from staying still. Ariel dare not stray too far from it, lest it magically disappear.

When there was some commotion above her, she perked expectantly,

“Hoist the sails,” Ariel recognized the voice was familiar as ‘Cap’n’. She wondered what he was like. The only interactions he’d had with males of the humans had been hostile. But not all of them would be like that. Perhaps if he was a sailor, he’d be kind. Belle had said sailors could be kind.

Humans were like any other animal. Ariel knew not every man was horrid. Neither one was exactly the same to another. She’d just had bad luck to meet the angry ones. It gave her hope that this ‘Cap’n’ wouldn’t be so unfriendly…even if he did turn out to be a pirate…

The boat was slow, as she expected, but it did gain a bit of speed. The waters began to be warmer and she realized she’d never travelled this far before. She supposed she could have; nothing was stopping her. All the same, it was a bit unnerving to be someplace so new.

Unnerving, but exciting. It could lead to another friend, like Belle. The thought made her pause. She needed to be back by tomorrow to check if her friend had returned. Ariel had no idea how much further it would be until they stopped.

Looking behind her, she nervously twirled her hair around her finger. The ship was starting to pass her and she bit her bottom lip. If—When Belle returned, Ariel wanted to be there to welcome her. Belle would have missed her. But if Belle was going to return, she might want time with her father, with her fiancé. Ariel supposed she didn’t have to be there by morning…she could make it back by night.

Luckily, though, land became visible fairly soon. Ariel heard it before she saw it. It was loud, with men screaming and before she got close, she worried someone might be hurt. But when she got close enough to see, there wasn’t any sign of injury.

The ship dropped an anchor to her left and, almost crushing her, lowered a small row boat. Ariel wasn’t nervous to swim underneath the tiny thing and when it docked at the pier, she floated under the wood planks to listen.

“Ah, Captain Hook, what can we do fer you?”

“Captain,” Ariel mouthed the word, never having spoken it before. It was a nice name.

“Tell me where John Silver is.”

“Long John? Oh, he ain’t been seen round here, Captain.”

“Tell me where he is.”

The tone of the Captain sent shudders through Ariel. All the same, she pulled on the wood until she was at the edge and peered over.

The Captain certainly did look angry. He had his fist grasping the man’s collar with a hook in his hand—no the hook was his hand. Ariel squinted, yes it definitely was poking out of his sleeve as it if were his fingers. With wide eyes, she flexed her own fingers and she watched him.

Yes, this Captain was certainly a pirate. He was angry and mean and certainly sailors had both hands…

“I—I told ya!” the man stammered, “Long John Sil—”

“He tried to poison me, Mr. Bones. If you’re protecting him…I will kill you along with him,” The captain leaned in close and pressed the hook to the man’s cheek.

“He ain’t been here!”

“You won’t mind if I still ask around?”

“No. No, o’course not, Captian.”

“Good,” The Captain released him, shoving him across the pier and he barely grabbed the side of the dock.

“Oi!” A loud voice barely caught her attention before she was whacked in the face with a broom, “Away with yeh, vermin!”

She let out a yell of protest, but the man thrust the broom at her again and Ariel retreated back under the dock, the man grumbling about her dirtying up the place. She waited there for a while longer, quietly hoping to hear the Captain again.

There was something intriguing about him. His missing hand was what most interested her. There must be a story behind it and her imagination race with what it could have been. What adventures he must have had!

These thoughts of adventures left her restless. When that would no longer let her stay cooped under the dock, she left.

Keeping deep underwater to avoid any more angry brooms, it was began to dawn on her just how much she missed her friend. Belle had been her only adventure in life.

She wondered if the others of her species thought of such things. Did they use their brain as she did? Were they content to swim aimlessly in the oceans for weeks on end? Ariel loved to swim more than anything, she loved the water with her entire soul, but she always seemed to find her way back to the pond in Belle’s courtyard.

There was only so much water to swim in, so many fish to sing to, so many pearls to collect before she found the activities growing tedious. She supposed that was why she’d begun to explore other bodies of water, why she’d found Belle.

She had been called ‘vermin’. She’d been shooed like a common pet twice in the same day. Belle never treated her with hostility. Belle didn’t see Ariel as just another sea creature; she had a brain, she had thought, she had hygiene.

The sun was beginning to descend, making the water she swam through more orange than blue. Normally, this was her favorite time to bask in the water. It was so magical down below, where the only sounds were those of the sea.

Now, Ariel found no joy in it. She swam, silently, no musical notes escaping her. She missed her Man-Animal friend. No one would ever treat her kindly again and now Belle could be gone forever.

No, she couldn’t be gone forever. Her tears mixed with the ocean water as she propelled herself through the water, swimming faster than she ever had.


	2. Chapter 2

Ariel hadn’t been expecting to ram head first into a boulder. Her forehead crushed against it, leaving her blinking and dizzy. When her eyes could find focus, she reached her hand out. There was more than one boulder and when she tried to find a place through, there was none.

Even when she poked her head above the water, the wall extended up into the sky. Ariel swatted it one last time and glared at it. Belle couldn’t be back, her friend wouldn’t have put up a wall here. She knew it was the only way for Ariel to enter.

So Ariel waited. There was nothing else to do. She left to eat and to stretch her muscles when they cramped in the shallow water. What would she do if Belle never returned? The days she spent waiting were long and dull.

There was no doubt that she could wait here forever. But if her friend wasn’t coming back, she could not just sit. It would be her life as it had been all over again. Ariel wasn’t going to let her life become that. She just couldn’t.

One last day. Just one last day to wait here, and hope that Belle would return. Ariel spent the whole night awake, her imagination running wild. For some reason, the image of the Pirate resonated with her.

“Captain,” she formed the word again on her lips as she wiggled her fingers. It would be strange to have a hook instead of a hand. Had he been born with the thing attached? Did human woman make metal inside their wombs? Ariel didn’t know. She supposed it was possible.

The Captain had seemed intimidating. Then again, most of the male Man-Animals were. At least he seemed to have a reason. He’d spoken of a man who’d tried to kill him. Murder, as Belle’s Books had called it. It was a crime. The Captain did have cause to be angry, more than most to act as such. By the way most human men acted, Ariel would have thought murder was a common occurance.

The Captain’s face was still clear in her mind and she wondered if he would have been considered attractive. Belle’s Books spoke of handsome princes and her friend had tried to explain what that was.

“There’s not really a definition,” Belle had said. “You find someone appealing or you don’t. Sometimes it’s who they are, sometimes it’s what they look like.”

“What does looking like something have to do with it?” Ariel had asked, twisting her hair around her fingers.

“Preferences,” Belle looked back at the book, her face looking sad.

“Do you have preferences?”

Belle smiled, “Maybe. I don’t know what I want. I only know what it is I don’t.”

“Well don’t you want the opposite of what you don’t want?”

“I guess you could say that,” Belle laughed, setting the book aside, “So if I don’t want a handsome prince…perhaps I’d prefer a peasant or some kind of ugly beast.”

“Ugly. Handsome,” Ariel sighed, “I don’t understand it. All humans look the same. I even look the same from here up,” Ariel gestured the flesh colored scales that faded into skin.

“But you like your hair. What if you had black hair?”

“I’ve gotten used to red,” she leaned her head back on the rock and combed out a strand, “But I do like it.”

“Well, there you go.”

“…Do you really want an ugly beast?”

“I don’t know,” Belle straightened out her skirts and sighed, “It seems every prince I’ve met has only been concerned with how I look, how beautiful—”

“You are pretty.”

“You don’t even know what it means to be pretty!” Belle splashed water at Ariel playfully, “I could be horribly disfigured.”

“I’m confused, Belle, not blind.”

That night had been good. Belle had been able to stay with her late into the night. It was the first night Ariel had ever heard the word ‘love’. It intrigued Ariel, the thought of ‘giving someone your heart’ was almost unfathomable. ‘Loving’ another person enough that you would die for them. Could humans really feel such things? Belle’s Books told of many things, most of which were fantasies. Love could be just that.

Ariel never spoke of those thoughts to Belle. Her friend seemed bent on believing it and Ariel would never discourage her. But the more she saw of the Man-Animals, Ariel was believing more and more that love did not exist. They were horrid to each other. Murdering.

Could The Captain love? It seemed absurd even to think it—

A loud, deafening crash sent a boulder crashing at her. Ariel barely missed it as it splashed into the water. The crashing didn’t stop and there were men yelling. She was terrified that they were looking for her, that they knew she was here. She didn’t think to swim away. She didn’t think she could have even moved without being crushed.

It was all she could do to keep from screaming as she hid, pressed as close to the river bank as she could. When she thought it would never end and she would be trapped forever, the last of the wall came down.

The wall had been blocking the water and it came flushing over her, knocking her back onto the shore. The rush knocked the breath from her, leaving her uselessly panting on the riverside. Once it had cleared, Ariel heard her name being called.

When the disorientation from being flung back had faded, Ariel recognized the voice.

Her friend was bending over her. “Belle! You’re back!”

Belle smiled, but the smile wasn’t right. It didn’t look like the smile Ariel knew Belle smiled.

“Let’s get you back into the water,” Belle took her by the arm and helped her to flop down the river bank. On the other side of the wall, men stood watching them. Some had rope, some had hammers. All of them looked anything but happy.

Once she’d caught her breath, she popped back out of the water, throwing her arms around Belle’s shoulders.

“I missed you so much!”

Belle patted her back and laughed, “I missed you too.”

“I knew you would come back.”

“Belle,” An older gentleman was walking over to them. Ariel recognized him as Belle’s father. “This is why you wanted the wall down?”

The man looked at Ariel with an expression of disgust, but he didn’t shoo her away.

“It was,” Belle stood, “Please, if you’d let me talk to my friend.”

“Belle…”

“Father,” she said, “Please.”

“Alright.” He turned and with a wave of his arms, the men at the wall turned away from them as well.

Ariel watched them leave while Belle sat on a rock next to the water. She was smoothing out her dress and didn’t speak.

“Where did you go?”

“I, um…” Belle sighed and smiled that smile again. “I went on an adventure.”

“You did?” 

“I did.”

“What happened?”

“…I fell in love.”

Ariel’s eyes widened. Belle wouldn’t lie to her. That meant that love had to be real. Wasn’t love supposed to be a good thing? Belle did not look like she was happy, “Then why do you look so sad?”

“I had to leave.”

“Why?”

“He let me come home.”

“You didn’t stay with him?”

“No. I didn’t.”

“I don’t understand…”

Belle slipped off her shoes and dipped her toes in the water. “It was wonderful. And I wouldn’t have changed it for anything. But it had to end. He wasn’t ready.”

“But he did love you?”

“I kissed him and it broke his curse,” she raising an eyebrow.

“How do you break a curse from kissing?”

“Magic. True love.”

“So it does exist?”

Belle laughed, “I was starting to have my doubts too, but it does.”

“Do you think…Can anyone find true love?”

“Absolutely,” Belle put her hand over Ariel’s. “We’ll have to work on finding someone for you. Unless there already is someone?” Belle added when Ariel blushed.

“No,” Ariel couldn’t tell her friend that she was thinking of a Pirate. She didn’t want love with The Captain. If she ever did find someone to love, she was determined for them not to be a pirate.

“Why is it I don’t believe you?”

“There’s no one. Really.”

“Belle!” Behind them, Belle’s father was standing a little ways down the river. “Come home.”

“Father, I don’t—”

“Now, Belle.” He didn’t move.

Giving a little huff, Belle stood. “We’ll talk more later.”

After Belle had gone, Ariel wasn’t sure what she should do. There wasn’t enough time to go back out to the ocean, but later could mean anything. She settled for swimming around at the mouth of the river. There she could always amuse herself with finding different treasures.

That time, it took a bit of searching. Eventually she found a shard of glass that had a red tint to it. It left a red patch of light on the dirt below her and she giggled at it. She would keep it to show her friend. Belle had probably already seen such things. Glass was a human object, but Ariel still wanted to share it.

This kept her entertained until the glass no longer gave a light. When Ariel looked up, she saw the sky was darkening.

When she came into the pond, Ariel almost expected Belle not to be waiting for her. But she was there, sitting in her usual spot.

“Look what I found,” Ariel placed the glass next to her and Belle smiled as she picked it up. “It makes the ground red when there’s light.”

“It can come in other colors too,” Belle handed the glass back to her and Ariel held it up to her eye to look through.

“I like red. It matches my hair,” Ariel lowered it and set it back on the rock, carefully. “What did your father want?”

“To talk.”

“Talk about what?”

“About what happened when I was gone.”

“About the man you love?”

When Belle nodded, she looked even more sad than she had before. “He wants me to…be examined.”

“By a doctor? Are you sick?”

“No, by a cleric…He thinks something happened,” she sighed. “I might have to leave again.”

“But nothing happened! You fell in love. Tell him that and—”

“I did and that’s the problem.” She was angry. Ariel knew when her friend was angry. This was one of those times. It hadn’t been directed her before, but at her father, many times. “I might have to go away to get away from him. I don’t know what they would do to me.”

“But love is—”

“I fell in love with—everyone thinks he’s the wrong person for me to love,” Belle shook her head. “But it doesn’t matter. I came to say goodbye.”

“But I didn’t even get to tell you that I met a pirate!”

At that, Belle looked intrigued and the anger looked to be gone from her. “Where did you meet a pirate?”

“Well, I saw him. I didn’t actually meet him,” Ariel’s smile faded, “I guess when you’re gone…I’ll go find him.”

“Yes, go and have an adventure,” Belle took the glass piece from the rock and pressed it into Ariel’s hand.

“Am I really not going to see you again?”

“Anything’s possible. But I won’t be near the ocean anymore. So unless you grow legs…then, probably not.”

“I’ll miss you. You’re my best friend—my only friend.”

“Right now, you’re my only friend too,” Belle leaned down and embraced her. “I hope I’ll get to see you again. Here,” Belle sat back on her heels, undoing the small chain at her neck, “Take this,”

It was shiny. Gold colored, with a small pendant hung on it. When Belle put it on Ariel’s neck, she examined it. “It’s pretty.”

“So you don’t forget me.”

“I wouldn’t ever forget you! Here, I want you to have something too,” Ariel pulled herself to a sitting position on the rock. Belle watched her as she brought the glass to her tail.

“No, don’t hurt yourself—”

“It’s fine. It doesn’t hurt.” There was a little blood when the scale was plucked loose, and there was some pain but it would be gone soon. Ariel shook off the water and held out to her.

Water gathered in Belle’s eyes. Crying. Ariel had never actually cried and Belle had only ever done so once or twice in years Ariel had known her. But now, tears returned to her when she hugged Ariel again.

“Thank you.”

If Ariel had needed air, she didn’t think she would have been able to get it, Belle hugged her so tightly. Ariel tried to return the strength. With a little sniff, Belle pulled back. “Okay, I have to go.”

“Bye,” Ariel called as Belle ran away into the dark. She turned back and waved a bit with the hand still holding the scale.

Ariel slumped into the water, dipping entirely underneath the surface, never feeling so alone before.


End file.
